Tea And Coffee – Can They Adversely Affect Your Teeth?

These two popular beverages are here to stay, but patients should be aware of how they can affect their teeth.

There are probably very few people reading this blog that don’t drink tea or coffee at least occasionally. Some of you will have the odd ‘cuppa’ during the day while others will drink a lot of it, probably to help you to get through the working day. On the one hand, tea and coffee are relatively harmless drinks, without the potential side effects of alcohol for example, but despite this, both of these drinks can have an effect on our teeth and it is useful to be aware of this.

Let us now take a look then at what our Wickford patients need to know about their tea and coffee ‘habit’ and how it might impact their teeth.

Teeth staining

This one probably won’t come as much of a surprise to you. Anyone who has drunk tea or coffee for a long period of time is likely to have noticed that their teeth have darkened in colour through staining. This is due to the tannins in both drinks although tea contains larger quantities than coffee. Some of this staining may be removable during the scale and polish procedure you receive during your appointment with the hygienist. For heavier staining though, a teeth whitening enhancement is likely to bring more success. More severe cases, or where you smoke as well, may require the more invasive, but effective, dental veneer procedure.

Tooth enamel erosion

Although not as damaging for the erosion of your tooth enamel as fizzy acidic drinks, both tea and coffee are mildly acidic. Over a period of time of heavy consumption, some enamel erosion may occur from the tooth surface. As the enamel thins it not only has the effects of revealing the darker dentin layer below it, making them darker in colour, but also means that tooth sensitivity is more likely, as are problems such as tooth decay and root canal infections.

Dry mouth syndrome

Although we sometimes drink tea and coffee to quench our thirst, both, ironically, contain caffeine which has a diuretic effect, causing moisture loss from the body. As anyone who has become dehydrated will know, this usually leads to a dry mouth. When this happens, bacteria start to thrive and grow in the mouth. This includes not only beneficial bacteria that help the digestive process but also those that attack the gums and supporting bone and soft tissue; the result of this is probably better known to our patients as gum disease. As you will know from previous blogs, this can be potentially disastrous, with tooth loss being a real possibility if not treated sufficiently early on.

Additional sugar

The odd bit of sugar in tea or coffee is common and, as long as it is balanced with other sugar consumption during the day, this can be controlled with good brushing and flossing. Those who drink these beverages in the chain coffee shops though may choose speciality drinks that contain large amounts of sugar, sometimes reaching up to 20 teaspoons of it in the worst cases. This alone exceeds the daily recommended allowance of sugar and especially when combined with other products containing sugar, could be disastrous for your teeth. Try to stick to more regular coffees as much as you can in order to avoid this.

What can be done to minimise the impact of these beverages?

Our dentists at the Cygnet Dental Practice are not about to tell you that you should give up your daily hot drinks. That would be totally unrealistic and also hypocritical as many of us drink them too. There are a few things that you can do to mitigate some of the effects though. These include:

• Drinking water, or at least swilling it around the mouth after drinking tea or coffee. Not only will this help to wash away some of the sugar from your teeth but some of the tannin that stains them too. It will also help to counteract the diuretic effect of caffeine.
• Brush your teeth well although leave at least 30 minutes after drinking or eating as the enamel softens for a short while afterwards and brushing could cause the enamel to erode.
• Choose green or herbal teas as these won’t stain your teeth like tea or coffee and may contain no or less caffeine as well.

The good news then is that tea and coffee can still be an enjoyable part of your life without the need to feel guilty about drinking them. As you can see though, there is a potential cost to this if you don’t take a little care when doing so. Naturally, regular appointments with one of our Wickford dentists will also help to keep your teeth in good health. If you would like to make an appointment, you can do so by calling the Cygnet Dental Practice on 01268 733078. We look forward to seeing you.